The present disclosure relates generally to the field of electric drive systems for motors. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for driving blower motors used to cool various components of a vehicle.
Industrial vehicles, such as mining trucks and locomotives, with electric or hybrid drive systems often include large components, such as motors and alternators, that generate a substantial amount of heat. These components may be cooled using blower motors or other cooling mechanisms designed to help dissipate heat.
Blowers may be used to cool several components of a vehicle, such as alternators, motors, and resistors that may be used to dissipate electrical energy. U.S. Pat. No. 7,746,604 (“the '604 patent”) of McNally et al., which issued on Jun. 29, 2010, discloses a system that utilizes a blower to cool a series of resistors. The system of the '604 patent includes a first series of resistors connected in series, a second series of resistors connected in series, a blower, and a sensor. When a current value, blower speed, and/or voltage value changes, the grid network of resistors is disconnected.
Conventional portions of electric drive systems used to drive blower motors in vehicles are electrically separated from other portions of the electric drive systems used to drive other components, such as traction motors. Such blower drive systems consume energy generated by the engine by burning fuel and do not take advantage of electrical energy that may be returned by other electrical components during certain operating modes of the vehicle (e.g., the traction motors). The circuits that are used to drive the blower motors may also be subject to faults that can stop operation of the blowers, causing costly downtime for the vehicle.
The electric drive systems of the present disclosure solve one or more problems set forth above and/or other problems of the prior art.